Department's probe of fatality continues

Officials continue to review a fatal traffic accident last week to determine if a 56-year-old woman was presumed dead before emergency responders found a faint pulse, but it appears the proper steps were taken by paramedics, a spokeswoman said.

By Eva Ruth Moravec :
December 21, 2009

San Antonio Fire Department officials continue to review a fatal traffic accident last week to determine if a 56-year-old woman was presumed dead before emergency responders found a faint pulse, but it appears the proper steps were taken by paramedics, a spokeswoman said Monday evening.

Specifically, paramedics followed at least one protocol adopted after a crash in December 2007 when paramedics failed to check Erica Nicole Smith, 23, for a pulse and presumed she was dead. An hour after that crash, a medical examiner noticed Smith, who was covered by a yellow tarp and still inside a wrecked car, was breathing. She was hospitalized and died the next day.

The new procedure requires at least two paramedics to assess a victim before he or she is declared deceased.

Alicia Trinidad, 56, was not pronounced dead until 6:10 p.m. Friday, shortly after she'd arrived at University Hospital, Sparks said. However, it remains unclear if paramedics checked vital signs upon their arrival at the crash scene as prescribed in the Fire Department's standard operating procedures.

Trinidad was struck by a pickup driven by Ruben Rojas, 37, as she walked across a Southeast Side street. She sustained severe head trauma from being run over and was on the pavement moments after the collision when her daughter drove upon the scene.

Cindy Trinidad, 35, watched as emergency responders covered her mother's body with a yellow tarp but later discovered a pulse and rushed her to the hospital, where she died.

"I was hysterically crying," said Trinidad, 35, recalling the incident, which took place at Gillette and Moursund boulevards. "I was on an emotional roller coaster."

Soon after Smith died two years ago, Fire Chief Charles Hood refused to apologize, saying paramedics had looked for Smith's pulse but couldn't find one. Later, he apologized and admitted there was an error in judgment because paramedics failed to check Smith's pulse, violating the department's protocol.

Sparks said Hood, the Fire Department's medical director and others are reviewing exactly what happened in Trinidad's case, and more details are expected to be released later this week.